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“The Underpants” – BUFFALO THEATRE ENSEMBLE

How can a play begin with someone dropping her underpants? Well Carl Sternheim conceived the idea back in 1910 before the days of reliable elastic, and Steve Martin adapted Sternheim’s idea for modern audiences. As a farce, Underpants contains no slap stick or slamming doors, but does give a refreshing change of pace through many naughty double entendres. The characters begin as solid stereotypes, before the days of political correctness, but change and offer surprises as they interact with each other. The creative dialogue from two playwrights results in a very clever sparkling comedy with some universal themes.

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Leave It To Ludwig

The conceit is that a young pianist (James F.Giles) is having trouble realizing an early Beethoven Piano Sonata in C minor, when a bust of the composer which he had ordered arrives. Placed on a table beside the piano, the bust magically becomes a real-life, and, if I may say so, utterly convincing, Ludwig Van Beethoven (Bruce Adolphe), who, on hearing the pianist, bursts into a rhapsodic remonstration on how to realize his music with all it proper depth and subtlety.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

The Music Man

Director Rachel Rockwell’s production of the 1957 classic ode to the folks of Iowa is in good hands . Featuring fabulous 1912 costumes (design by Melissa Torchia), terrific choreography and smooth dancing, The Music Man unfolds as a toe-tapping, family friendly musical comedy. At only $46.90 for the best ticket, audiences will get a full Equity acted and full orchestrated Broadsword musical- at half the price of a Loop tour. The beautiful Paramount Theatre, which seats 1880, allows theatre patrons in the Far Western suburbs to enjoy fine musicals.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

Flare Path

We also see how Patricia is torn between her passion for Kyle and her duty as a wife to the vulnerable Teddy. What will she do as Kyle arrives to take her away? While all wait for the airmen to return from their bombing mission, the fear and tension permeates. Director Robin Witt has her dedicated cast fully engaged. Darci Nalepa is wonder as the conflicted soul; while Joe deBettencourt is terrific as the fun-living dashing pilot.

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deWaart Conducts Brahms – And Mutilates Mozart

On paper, the current CSO program, led by Edo de Waart (substituting again for Riccardo Muti), looked sure-fire: Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, the Jupiter, is arguably the greatest symphony of perhaps the greatest symphonist not named Beethoven; and a case could be made that Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 represents the height of the symphony after Beethoven’s death. However, one would not necessarily register the stature of these great works, the Mozart in particular, from this evening’s often lifeless performances.

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

American Wee-Pie

Rivendell theatre Ensemble, a troupe dedicated to producing theatre that is “women’s work” has mounted a funny and quirky comic drama about a group of souls struggling to both fine their sense of purpose and an outlet for their creativity. Filled with contemporary references to the latest fad (designed cupcakes -who knew?), this world premiere by Lisa Dillman tells the story of a middle-aged textbook editor….

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REVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs

I left 16th Street Theater last night quite baffled because I witnessed a most engaging and theatrical production of a one-person show – The Agony And The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Lance Baker, a surefire actor who has a special talent for presenting one-man shows, was at the top of his art in this perplexing show. Baker’s performance was exquisite as he deftly navigates through Mike Daisey’s controversial polemic.

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MUST SEEREVIEWSREVIEWS BYTheatre ReviewsTom Williams

Pygmalion

The BoHo Theatre and Stage Left Theatre jointly present a most engaging and fully authentic production of Shaw’s 1913 work – Pygmalion. Shaw’s most popular play became the great musical My Fair Lady that used much of the original Shaw script including much of the dialogue in the songs. Pygmalion, in its initial script, had a different ending that many producers and Shaw himself changed several times. This production used Shaw’s original ending which may be a surprise to My Fair Lady and fans of the 1930’s film of Pygmalion. Kudos to BoHo and Stage Left for sticking to the initial ending.

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All-Beethoven

This evening’s CSO program marks the second time in the past three seasons that music director Riccardo Muti has had to bow out of a scheduled performance of Beethoven’s legendary Eroica Symphony; Muti developed a case of the flu and was replaced for the duration of his present two-week engagement by Edo de Waart, currently music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Given the short notice on which he took up the program, de Waart led finely polished and alert performances that often lacked the last degree of dramatic intensity.

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